Episodes
Despite making $360 million dollars and being loved and reviled in equal measure, sometimes I feel like Christopher Nolan’s spy-meets-time-travel hard sci-fi epic TENET doesn’t exist. The movie came out in the deepest of COVID, and even among those who saw it, more than half were put off by its (at times) unintelligible dialogue and convoluted plot. It has had a few returns to movie theaters since, and is available on physical and digital media, but isn't among his most celebrated or most...
Published 08/23/23
Published 08/23/23
Welcome to the SEASON TWO FINALE of RohmerCast: the podcast about Eric Rohmer, his films, his working methods, and anything else we want to talk about related to Eric Rohmer.   In our eighth episode we discuss Rohmer’s production methods via LA COLLECTIONNEUSE, PERCEVAL, and THE GREEN RAY. This leads to the following tangents: monster trucks named after Rohmer movies, post-dubbing naturalism, sound recording as a practical AND aesthetic choice, functional light, different approaches to...
Published 12/21/22
Welcome to RohmerCast; the podcast about Eric Rohmer, his films, his working methods, and anything else we want to talk about related to Eric Rohmer.   In our seventh episode we discuss Le rayon vert (The Green Ray), his entirely improvised film from 1986. This leads to the following tangents: summertime sadness, different kinds of holidays, traveling alone, the feeling of a documentary, premiering on television, The Worst Person in the World, personal superstitions, others dictating your...
Published 12/08/22
Welcome to the second episode of season two of RohmerCast, the podcast about Éric Rohmer: his films, his working methods, and anything else we want to talk about related to Éric Rohmer. In this episode, we discuss Perceval, his period adaptation of a 12th century poem. This leads to the following tangents: authenticity to period art and the language of the text, realistic (awkward) battles, theater in the round, artificiality in mise-en-scene, Bressonian acting, and the theme of youth and...
Published 11/23/22
Welcome to the SEASON TWO PREMIERE of RohmerCast, the podcast about Éric Rohmer: his films, his working methods, and anything else we want to talk about related to Éric Rohmer. In our fifth episode we discuss La Collectionneuse (1967), his (second) first feature. This leads to the following tangents: coming up with a theme song for the show, the idea of a fictionalized documentary, the sound of the birds, direct sound as an aesthetic choice, intentionally with shooting ratio, Rohmer in...
Published 11/11/22
Hello everybody! And welcome to RohmerCast, a podcast about Eric Rohmer: his films, his working methods, and anything else we want to talk about related to Eric Rohmer. Listen to our trailer to hear about the films we're going to talk about in season two! Primary Sources: Eric Rohmer: Interviews edited by Fiona Handyside Eric Rohmer: A Biography by Noël Herpe and Antoine De Baecque #ericrohmer #frenchnewwave #cinema #nouvellevague #filminstagram #filmtwitter #frenchcinema #cinephile...
Published 11/04/22
Hi! While you all eagerly await the announcement of our second season, we thought we'd re-share Shaun's appearance on Oeuvre Busters, the podcast that launched this feed and got some fun attention last week. On the ep, Shaun goes into full 'cool teacher' mode, taking us through Manny Farber's theory. It's a fun listen, and we hope you enjoy it! We'll be back in soon with announcements about season 2! -- This week, based on a question from a listener, we sat down with filmmaker pal Shaun...
Published 10/21/22
Hi everybody! We were thrilled and honored to be included in today's 13 Great Film Podcasts, According to a Film Critic article published by Vulture. On this list, Bilge Ebiri highlighted some of the film podcasts he enjoys and has been on. We are in such wonderful company. Having Bilge on was a real highlight for us, and so we thought we'd re-release the episode for you to check it out. The entire back catalog of Oeuvre Busters is available! Check it out below! Thanks so much for listening,...
Published 10/12/22
Published 08/12/22
This month on Patreon, the boys go deep on Thomas Vinterberg's ANOTHER ROUND, which is currently on HULU in the US of A and is pretty damn great. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 04/14/21
On this reddish episode of Oeuvre Busters, Liam and George discuss Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965), starring Toshiro Mifune, Yūzō Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan, Miyuki Kuwano and Kyōko Kagawa. Topics discussed: endings and beginnings; Green Day albums; beard dye; Henry Cavill's 'stache; horribly racist James Bond films. Also, the Pacino reset! Topics not discussed? Kierkegaard and the leap of faith. Hey, you all know we love you out there, right? But do you love us? If so,...
Published 03/17/21
On this Learesque episode of Oeuvre Busters, Liam and George welcome Jessica Chiba to discuss Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985), starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu and Mieko Harada. We recorded this episode a few months back and were going to release it a little later, but Ran is currently on Amazon Prime, so what better time to celebrate this film than now? Topics discussed: must we mean what we say?; the purpose of fools; utter hopelessness; love. Plus, we briefly imagine what...
Published 03/03/21
On this up and down episode of Oeuvre Busters, Liam and George welcome Bilge Ebiri to discuss High and Low (1963), directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyōko Kagawa and Tatsuya Mihashi. Topics discussed: pink smoke; the Criterion closet, again; Steve Martin, serious actor; Mifune's great cheekbones. Also, utopianism! Topics not discussed? Goethe's Theory of Colors. Bilge Ebiri is an editor and film critic at Vulture. Here's some of his recent writing we...
Published 02/17/21
On this sequel to our episode on Yojimbo, Liam and George welcome back Jose Rodriguez to discuss Sanjuro (1962), directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi and Yūzō Kayama. Topics discussed: Roborat; explosive violence; pounds and pence; keeping your sword sheathed; Demolition Man; ronins with hearts of gold. Also, faxes! Remember those?! Topics not discussed? Terfs! They suck. Jose's wonderful and beautiful Adolescencia and other works can be...
Published 02/03/21
On this yolo of an episode, Liam and George welcome Bryan Cogman to discuss Yojimbo (1961), directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. Topics discussed: correct samurai slashing techniques; Al Pacino in Star Wars; how to properly hold a gun; Tony Scott; and, of course, capitalism. Plus, Sergio Leone, put that letter down! Topics not discussed: The symbolism of the parrot in Gustave Flaubert’s A Simple Heart. Bryan Cogman is a screenwriter, producer and once and future actor. He...
Published 01/20/21
On this well-rested episode, Liam and George invite Inkoo Kang on to discuss The Bad Sleep Well (1960) directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune, Topics discussed: Hamlet, of course; bustiers; eating cake at the DMV; Halloween traumas; Parasite. Also, as usual, capitalism! Folks, it's still bad. Topics not discussed: Heiner Müller's Hamletmachine. Inkoo's great podcast on Pedro Almodovar can be found here: All About Almovodar Podcast And some of her recent writing can be found...
Published 01/13/21
On this hidden (?) episode of Oeuvre Busters, George and Liam welcome back filmmaker and friend of the pod Randy Wilkins to discuss The Hidden Fortress (1958) directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, and Kamatari Fujiwara. Topics discussed: NYU, the Star Wars of colleges; obnoxious film professors; working in triangles; burying corpses; the intimate and the epical; sublime poets stealing; Mifune’s legs. Also, please hire us Disney! Topics not...
Published 12/23/20
On this episode of Oeuvre Busters, Liam and George plumb the depths to discuss Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths, starring, of course, the studly Toshiro Mifune. Topics discussed: Maxim Gorky, wookie lookalike; f**k Richard Crenna; 24-hour TangoMan; Stalin and how he murked a few folks; Maxim Gorky, time traveler. Also, be obnoxious, go ahead! Topics not discussed? Wilson Harris's sublime Guyana Quartet, essential texts of the post-colonial canon. Hey, you all know we love you out there,...
Published 12/09/20
On this bloody great episode of Oeuvre Busters, Liam and George welcome Isaac Butler on to discuss Throne of Blood (1957), directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada and Takashi Shimura. Topics discussed: Ghost of Tsushima; doomed prophecies; that one Julius Caesar in the park; Hour of the Wolf; very English things to say; horses eating horses; wonderlands. Also, some lingo from those of us in the critical trade. Topic not discussed: Battlestar Galactica and all...
Published 11/25/20
On this cancerous episode of Oeuvre Busters, George and Liam discuss Ikiru (1952), directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Takashi Shimura. Topics discussed: Squid-and-the-Whale vibes; drunk salarymen; bad dads; Kid A; all the rabbits we made along the way. Also, Tolstoy.  Topics not discussed: lobster humanoids. Hey, you all know we love you out there, right? But do you love us? If so, please consider subscribing to our new Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/oeuvrebusters For only $3 dollars...
Published 11/18/20